Newcastle-Fiorentina abandoned

Fiorentina's friendly match against Newcastle United was suspended due to a waterlogged pitch.

The Viola travelled to St James' Park for the pre-season test this afternoon, but only managed to play 64 minutes.

It was still 0-0 at this stage, as ArturBoruc had parried a Dan Gosling free kick from the edge of the box and Peter Lovenkrands fired wide following a ValonBehrami error.

Alessandro Gamberini had perhaps the best chance of the match after 29 minutes when Andrea Lazzari's cross found him in the six-yard box, but Tim Krul performed a desperate save from point-blank range.

The pitch was beginning to show real problems before half-time, as Alberto Gilardino's effort was slowed by a puddle, allowing the goalkeeper to scramble back and clear off the line.

StevanJovetic forced the Newcastle goallie into another tough save after the break, as did Gilardino's volley, but at the other end CesareNatali required a crucial tackle to stop Gosling tapping into an open goal on the counter-attack.